188 PHASIANID^. 



and tipped with black at the extremity ; back and sides of the 

 neck brownish grey, shading into brownish buff on the back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts, and closely marked with narrow wavy 

 black cross-bars and lines ; the feathers of the back usually with 

 ill-defined subtcrminai chestnut cross-bars, which become strong 

 and well-marked on the rump and upper tail-coverts. Outer 

 secondaries, scapulars, lesser, median, and secondary coverts 

 brownish buff, paler towards the extremities, thickly vermiculated 

 with blacli, with a chestnut blotch on either web, and weU-defined 

 pale buff shaft-stripes. Primaries, primary-coverts, and rest of 

 secondaries dark brown, with ratlier wide-set buff cross-bars on 

 both webs, though in the latter they are less regular and more 

 broken. Forehead, lores, superciliary stripes, cheeks, chin, throat, 

 and front of neck dull rufous ; ear-coverts rather browner. Chest 

 and breast pale grey, finely vermiculated with black lines ; below a 

 wide horseshoe-shaped dark chestnut patch edged above with pale 

 rufous or white. Belly and thighs whitish, vermiculated with 

 black on the upper parts. Under tail-coverts dirty buff, vermicu- 

 lated with black. Sides and flanks the same, with narrow buff 

 shaft-stripes and wide subterminal chestnut cross-bars. Centre 

 pair of tail-feathers closely mottled with rufous buff and black, 

 somewhat paler towards the margins, second pair the same, but more 

 rufous towards the shaft, remainder of the feathers chestnut tipped 

 with buff. Iris dark brown. Bill blackish brown. Legs and feet 

 bluish grey. Total length 12-6 inches, wing 6-2, tail 3-5, tarsus 1-7. 



The young male after the first moult resembles the adult, but 

 the general colouring of the plumage is perhaps not quite so rich. 

 The legs and feet yellowish brown, and the first primary is pointed 

 instead of round. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in the following points : — 

 The sides of the neck are brownish, each feather with a narrow buff 

 shaft, somewhat dilated towards the extremity ; the lesser and 

 median wing-coverts and the scapulars have the ground-colour of 

 the feathers mostly black with wide-set transverse buff bars ; and 

 the horseshoe mark on the breast is reduced to a few chestnut 

 spots on either side, or sometimes entirely absent. (In a barren 

 female there is a very large horseshoe mark ; and the wing-coverts 

 have one web of each feather like that of the male, and the other 

 with normal buff bars.) Total length 12-'d inches, wing 6, tail 3-2, 

 tarsus 1"65. 



The young female after the first moult resembles the adult, but 

 the horseshoe mark on the lower breast is large and well-marked 

 in the great majority of specimens, and it is the exception to find 

 young birds in which' it is rudimentary or absent. Legs and feet 

 yellowish brown. 



In quite young birds the whole of the upper parts and the chest 

 and breast are brownish buff, and each feather of the mantle, chest, 

 and breast has a buff or whitish black-edged shaft-stripe. The 

 adult plumage first makes its appearance on the sides of the chest 

 and breast, and on the sides, flanks, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; 



